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Greywalls
Greywalls The city of Greywalls (Also known as Liar's Lair and Thieftown) was a city with a population of 1,123,000 people. It was a walled town, full of thieves, brigands and pirates. It was on the Far Coast, on the Crystal Sea. The city was run by the 'nobilty,' criminals of the Hawthorn Coup who are known as the Families. The city had no prison, as the only crimes were Murder Without Cause ''and ''Crimes against the Nobles, both which were punishable by execution by volley of crossbow bolts. The area around the city was used for farming, by forigen-born slaves. History The area in which Greywalls and nearby Southcliffe were founded was known as the Far Coast. It was orginally long plains of grassland, with horses, deer and unicorns grazing there. The Kingdom of Ralbion, a new kingdom to the west, founded the city on the Serenity River. It became known as Serenitybridge, and it grew rapidaly. The wizard, Harrash 'The Bold' Mandor, was born here in 346 R.C. in the Blue Maiden Inn. It's infamous first ring of walls was constructed in the years 451-467, but they were too low and weak. A horde of goblins sacked the town in 501 R.C. and it fell into ruins. In 817 R.C., the growing rate of crime in Perule, the capital of Ralbion, caused the King to think about concidering penal settlements. The Far Coast had been abandoned, and so the King decieded to form penal colonies in his former territory. Three ships, known as the Founding Fleet in Greywalls, landed there on Sunswarmth 4, 817. The city was reconstructed by the enslaved workforce, who had to do 'penal service' for ten to thirty years. The King made Ryan Stoneheart the head of the territory as the High Warden. He became like a lord, and grew fat and rich from the work of the felons. The City Guards numbered thirteen hundred, and they kept the labouring felons in check. However, by 861, there was twenty hundred felons. These were made up of pickpockets, whores, rapists, thieves, cons and thugs. Arthyr Hawthorn figured out these figures, and discussed this with his fellow prisoners. On the night of Rainswell 5th, 861, he led a coup with his fellow prisoners. They butchered the guards, and took the city. Stoneheart was beheaded, and his head was sent by land to Perule, with a message beneath declaring Greywall's independance and its nationhood. The King was furious, and demanded the Royal Army to take back the city. But the city of Southcliffe had a mutiny, and it too joined the same city-state. They both made up an army of 32,000, which outnumbered the Royal Army of 19,000. They fought in the Battle of the Serenity, which led to the death of the King. The King had no heirs, and so a civil war ensumed. This allowed the two cities to become independant. Hawthorn was made High Lord of Greywalls-Southcliffe, and he began with the construction of an offical army. He founded the Home Guard to defend his nation, and he used it to remain in power. He ordered the construction of high stone walls, to be manned by his Home Guard. He saw the need to have a navy, to keep out any sea threats. He travelled north to the crumbling Pirate's Cove, and made deals with the Pirate Lords. He allowed the city to become a base for pirates in turn that they protect the city. They payed a certain tax, of 20% of their loot. The city grew as dens, brothels, tanneries, and houses popped up. In the years, 873 to 884, Hawthorn Castle was build. Unlike the other castles later build in the city, it was made with pure defence in mind. It was build with battlesments, four rings of walls, a thousand archers and many silts in the steep walls. Lord Hawthorn was very suspicous, and so he founded the Inner Thieves, who acted as his spies. He led purges, and he became increasingly paronoid. When he died in 889, the city was confused at what to do. Instead, six families took his place. They were the Goldberries, Whitehelms, Scarravens, Snows, Alehorns and Sharpclaws. They formed the Thieve's Council, and they would rule the city untill 1511. They build a stone bridge across the River Serenity, and the market place was build in 897. The city became more organized, with everyone respecting the Families. They learned that soceity needed all trades, and so the city went from one full of felons to full of many differnent interconceted trades. The Temple of Sandos, the God of Thieves, was build from 908-12, by the Stonemason's Guild. Southcliffe became property of the Snow Family, who turned it into a town of slaves captured by the Pirates. Piers grew up on the Serenity Estury, as more ships were build. The cities became rich as the pirates spread south from the Crystal Sea to the Heart Sea. They ploundered coastlines, and spread far west to Alvengur. They were known in Alfish as Sareadan (which means Sea Demons). Slaves came in from the south, and were forced to work on the farmsteads that sprang up along the former grasslands. In the years 1023-6, there was war with Ralbion again. This became known as the Thieves' War, and the Families mustered the Home Guard. King Sans I of Ralbion, who had recently won a war with Gallica, had set his sights on retaking the Far Coast. He torched the city-state's town of Mountainbury, and led his infamous Knights of the Fallen Star to charge against the Home Guard in the Battle for the Far Coast. It lasted six days, with ten hundred men dead on each side. Chasing the army back, they fought for three years, untill they took Perule. They occupied Ralbion for ten years, untill one of the Goldberries' sons was declared King Dereck I. This allowed Greywalls to control Ralbion for twenty-five years. However, King Sans' third cousin, Alfred Whitemane, took back the country. He was crowned King, aged fourteen, and his countrymen forced the Greywallers back to the Far Coast. By 1200, the Crystal Sea was controlled by Greywalls, and it had a population of one million. The Home Guard were given only two laws. To protect the Families and to kill needless murdereors. The city became more lawless, as the streets filled with bodies. Anarchy reigned in the streets, as The Great Riots raged. The Home Guard was called in, and the Families ordered volleys of arrows to be fired at the assembled crowds. The figures show that 4000 people lost thier lives in the riots. By 1230, the power of the Families was begining to wane. The Greywall Navy, dubbed 'the Sea Walls,' however, saw a growing importance at this time. They used the new flashpowder techonolgy to raid the cities of Harlvor and Turzcay, far to the east. The Greywall economy boomed, and thier was demands for better rights. There was attacks on the Thief Guilds, who Greywallers saw as the probelm for thier city. They wanted Greywalls to become an orthodox state, not as one historian puts it, "the state were the whore earns more than the merchant." However by 1300, the literacy rate had gone up. The Familes, under the leadership of Lord Varn Goldclaw, wished to make Greywalls-Southcliffe greater than her neigbours. Prostitution, thieves and pirates now got a heavier taxation of 35% of thier earnings, while the Home Guard was converted into the Far Coast Army. They took territory off Ralbion in the Three Years' War. Category:Thalgor